PETRIFIED FOREST IN ARIZONA

MY HUSBAND AND I VISITED THIS UNUSUAL NATIONAL PARK PARK NEAR HOLBROOK WHILE WE WERE IN GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR ARCHAEOLOGY I GOT A PART TIME JOB AT THE MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ARIZONA AS A FRESHMAN AND THAT SUMMER WE TRAVELED TO A MUSEUMS, NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREAS. THE PETRIFIED NATIONAL FOREST LARGE TREES THAT ARE PETRIFIED THROUGH A SPECIAL PROCESS. THEY LIVED 225 MILLION YEARS AGO WITH PRONGHORNS, COYOTES, AND BOBCATS AS WELL AS AMPHIBIANS IN THE PUERCO RIVER. ABOUT 1/2 OF THE 360 SQUARE MILES IN THE PUERCO RIVER. ABOUT 1/2 OF THE 360 SQUARE MILES IS WILDERNESS AND PART BADLANDS. THERE ARE FOSSILS THAT LIVED IN THE LATE TRIASSIC. THE FOSSILS INCLUDE FERNS, CYCADS, GINKOS, AND MANY OTHER PLANTS AND GIANT REPTILES AND DINOSAURS. SINCE 1900'S PALEONTOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN STUDING IN THE PARK.

THE FIRST INHABITANTS LIVED HERE IN 8000 YEARS AGO AND WERE PALEO- INDIAN HUNTERS AND GATHERERS. BY 1500 AD THEY BEGAN TO GROW CORN AND BY 2000 AD THEY BECAME AGRICULTURALISTS. THEY HAVE FOUND 600 SITES IN THIS AREA THAT ARE PROTECTED. THE STREAMS THAT FLOWED 200 MILLION YEARS AGO DEPOSITED INORGANIC MATERIAL INCLUDING TREES, PLANTS, ANIMALS THAT FELL INTO THE WATER, SOME OF THE MATERIAL WAS BURIED SO QUICKLY THAT IT BECAME FOSSILIZED. THEY SEDIMENTS ARE PART OF THE CHINLE FORMATION. DURING A PERIOD OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO A LARGE LAKE COVERED MUCH OF NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA. THERE WERE VOLCANOES THAT ERUPTED NEARBY AND IN NEVADA.

THE CLIMATE CHANGED AND FARMING BECAME DIFFICULT FROM 750 - 900 AD. BASKET MAKERS MOVED AWAY. THE PUEBLO BUILDERS CONSTRUCTED ABOVE GROUND PUEBLOS.

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